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Hedgewar was born on 1 April 1889 in Nagpur. His parents were Baliram pant Hedgewar and Revati. His father was an orthodox priest and they were a family of modest means. When Keshav was thirteen, both his parents succumbed to the epidemic of plague. He had to suffer great hardships on account of being orphaned but never did he seek any help from others as he had a lot of self-respect. Despite travails, his attention to his studies was never affected.[citation needed] His elder brothers Mahadev pant and Sitaram pant ensured that he was provided with good education.[citation needed]

When he was studying in Neel City High School in Nagpur, he was rusticated for singing "Vande Mataram" in violation of the circular issued by the then British government. As a result he had to pursue his high school studies at the Rashtriya Vidyalaya in Yavatmal and later in Pune. After matriculating, he was sent to Kolkata by B. S. Moonje (National President of Hindu Mahasabha) in 1910 to pursue his medical studies. After passing the L.M.&S. Examination from the National Medical College in June 1914, he completed one year apprenticeship and returned to Nagpur in 1915 as a doctor.[3]

On his return to Nagpur, the financial condition of his family had worsened. They hoped that Hedgewar would open a dispensary and help his elder brothers. Hedgewar did not intend to set up a medical practice and had made up his mind to become a full-time political activist . Since his arrival in Nagpur, Hedgewar was busy organising the revolutionaries in Nagpur, under the guidance of Bhaoji Karve. He became involved with social work and also with the Bal Gangadhar Tilak faction of the Congress Party, through which he developed a close association with Moonje who later became his mentor.[citation needed]

In the 1920 session of Indian National Congress held in Nagpur, Hedgewar was appointed as the Deputy Chief of volunteers cadre overseeing the whole function. This volunteer organisation was named as Bharat Swayamsewak Mandal and was headed by Laxman V. Paranjape. He and his colleagues unsuccessfully campaigned for the passage of a resolution declaring 'Poorna Swaraj (complete self-rule) as the goal of the Congress.[citation needed]

He participated actively in the Non-co-operation movement in 1920 and undertook a brisk tour in village after village in the Central Provinces for mass awakening. He was promptly jailed and sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment.

He was closely associated with revolutionaries like Nalini Kishor Guha. After his return from Calcutta to Nagpur, he used his contacts to organise revolutionaries with a plan of "armed revolt" which, according to P.L. Joshi was dropped on the advice of Tilak.[4] Hedgewar's revolutionary group was the biggest one and consisted of 150 revolutionaries. G.M. Huddar says Hedgewar's revolutionary group resembled a secret "conspiratorial group" of young men.[5] His plan of armed revolt was not an isolated case of adventurism but it was coincided by his manifesto for Indians Independence which was to be declared from many countries. He postponed his plan on the advise of Dr B. S. Moonje.[6]

After founding the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1925, Hedgewar started the tradition of keeping the RSS away from the anti-British Indian Independence movement.The RSS carefully avoided any political activity that could be construed as being anti-British. The RSS biographer C. P. Bhishikar states, "After establishing Sangh, Doctor Saheb in his speeches used to talk only of Hindu organization. Direct comment on Government used to be almost nil".[7]

In April 1930, Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for 'Satyagraha' against the British Government. Gandhi himself launched the Salt Satyagraha undertaking his Dandi Yatra. Dr. Hedgewar decided to participate only individually and not let the RSS join the freedom movement officially. He sent information everywhere that the Sangh will not participate in the Satyagraha. However those wishing to participate individually in it were not prohibited. This meant that any responsible worker of the Sangh could not participate in the Satyagraha.However, Hedgewar himself participated in Satyagraha in individual capacity.[8]

This tradition was subsequently followed by the next sarsanghchalaks of the RSS, and under Golwalkar, the RSS completely abstained from the Quit India Movement in 1942 as well. The Bombay government(British) appreciated the RSS as such, by noting that, "the Sangh has scrupulously kept itself within the law, and in particular, has refrained from taking part in the disturbances that broke out in August 1942".[9] The British Government also asserted that the RSS was not at all supporting any civil disobedience against them, and as such their other political activities(even if objectionable) can be overlooked.[10] Further, the British also asserted that at sangh meetings organized during the times of anti-British movements started and fought by the Indian National Congress, "speakers urged the sangh members to keep aloof from the congress movement and these instructions were generally observed" .[10]

Hedgewar founded RSS in 1925 on the day of Vijayadashami with an aim to organise Hindu community for its cultural and spiritual regeneration and make it a tool in getting the country free from foreign domination.[1][11] Hedgewar insisted on the term 'rashtriya' (national) for his exclusively 'Hindu' organization, for he wanted to re-assert the identity of Hindu with rashtriya.This can be confirmed by the prarthana(prayer) sung at the end of every shakha meeting, along with the slogans of Rashtraguru Samarth Ramdas Ki Jai and Bharat Mata Ki Jai.[12] Hedgewar created a female wing of the organization in 1936.[13][14]

Hedgewar actively participated in Indian National Congress in the 1920s. But he got disillusioned with their policies and politics. The outbreak of the Hindu-Muslim riot in 1923 made him ponder over an alternate model of nation-building in India. He was deeply influenced by the writings of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. He considered that the cultural and religious heritage of Hindus should be the basis of Indian nationhood.[15]

His initial followers, among others, included Bhaiyaji Dani, Babasaheb Apte, Balasaheb Deoras, and Madhukar Rao Bhagwat. The Sangh was growing in Nagpur and the surrounding districts. And it soon began to spread to other provinces too. Hedgewar went to a number of places and inspired the youths for taking up the Sangh work. Gradually all his associates had begun to endearingly call him as 'Doctorji.' Upon his urging, Swayamsevaks went to far-off cities like Kashi, Lucknow etc., for their further education and started the Shakhas there too.[citation needed]

Hedgewar had endorsed the idea of militarizing society in accordance with fascist organizational arrangement.In January 1934, Hedgewar chaired a conference on fascism and Mussolini. In March, 1934 Hedgewar held a conference with Moonje and Laloo Gokhale in which the subject of discussion was how to organize Hindus militarily in accordance with the contemporary fascist states of Germany and Italy.[16] A 1933 secret report of British Intelligence titled ‘Note on the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh’ states that:

It is perhaps no exaggeration to assert that the Sangh hopes to be in future India what the ‘Fascisti’ are to Italy and the ‘Nazis’ to Germany.[16][17]

His health deteriorated in later years of his life. Often he suffered from chronic back pain. He started delegating his responsibilities to M.S.Golwalkar, who later succeeded him as Sarsanghachalak of RSS. In January 1940, he was taken to Rajgir in Bihar for the hot-spring treatment.[citation needed]

He attended the annual Sangh Shiksha Varg in 1940, where he gave his last message to Swayamsevaks, saying: "Today, I am seeing a mini-Bharat before me. Let there be no occasion in the lives of any of you to say that you were once a Sangh Swayamsevak some years ago." He died on the morning of 21 June 1940 in Nagpur. His last rites were performed in the locality of Resham Bagh in Nagpur.[citation needed]